Swan Wins Shot Put, Bearcats Place 2nd in 3 Events, on 1st Day of NWC Meet

McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Saige Swan (So., Crescent City, CA/Del Norte HS) of Willamette University set a personal record on his way to winning a Northwest Conference title in the men's shot put on Friday, April 20 during the first day of the 2018 NWC Track and Field Championships at Maxwell Field on the Linfield College campus. Swan won the shot put with a toss of 49' 9.25". The Bearcats also placed second in three events and took third in one event on Friday.

Michael Montague (So., San Diego, CACanyon Crest Academy) took second in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a personal record time of 9:29.31. Hannah Swanson (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) was second in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:44.86, as she set a personal record. Keith Carlson (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) established a personal record as well in the men's 10,000-meter run, as he took earned second place in 31:51.99.

The schedule on Friday included finals in several distance events and field events. In addition, preliminary heats were held in the sprints and the hurdles, as well as the 800-meter run. Finals in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run and 5,000-meter run, as well as the sprints and hurdles, will be held on Saturday, April 21, along with four men's field events and four women's field events. Action will get underway at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) for field events and at 12 p.m. for track events.

Swan recorded his top throw of 49' 9.25" in the shot put on his first attempt of the prelims. He improved by more than three feet over his previous top distance of 46' 7.25", set at the Chico State Invitational earlier this year. Teammate Josh Martin (So., Medford, OR/St. Mary's School) took sixth place in the shot put at 44' 11.75". Caleb Dalzell of George Fox University was second in the event at 48' 0".

In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Montague's time of 9:29.31 lowered his personal record by 12.56 seconds, from 9:41.87 at the Willamette vs. Corban Dual on March 15. On Friday, he trailed only Kyle Repacz of Pacific Lutheran University, who won the steeplechase in 9:19.09. Montague's new time ranks 20th in NCAA Division III.

Swanson, by finishing the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:44.86, was able to reduce her personal record by 5.05 seconds. He previous best time was 10:49.91 during the Willamette vs. Corban Dual. Swanson remained fourth in NCAA Division III this year and stayed fifth on Willamette's all-time list.

Marissa Mount from Whitworth University won the NWC title in the women's steeplechase with a championship meet record time of 10:25.87. Emily Evans (Jr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS) placed fifth for the Bearcats in a personal record time of 11:53.29. Her top time was 11:56.92 at the 2017 San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

A strong race by Carlson in the men's 10,000-meter run resulted in his personal record dropping by well over a minute to 31:51.99. His previous best in the 10,000 was 33:13.68 at the 2016 West Coast Invitational. The NWC title went to Brad Hodkinson from Pacific Lutheran in 31:20.45.

Willamette's Keaton Beckmann (Fr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) finished in third place in the men's long jump with a top leap of 22' 6.25". Alex Canchola from George Fox took first place at 23' 3.25", while Noah LaMadrid, also from GFU, was third at 22' 9 1/2", just three inches farther than Beckmann. In the men's hammer throw, Martin was fourth at 143' 4" and Swan was eighth at 138' 2", as both set personal records. Martin improved from 143' 0" and Swan raised his top mark from 134' 5".

The men's pole vault results included Elijah Hall-Crockett (So., Phoenix, AZ/Cesar Chavez HS) of Willamette in fifth place at 6' 0.5" inches. He just missed his career-best of 6' 1".

Isabel Solano (So./Fr., Newport, OR/Newport HS) tied for seventh for the Bearcats in the women's pole vault at 9' 10.50". She added more than two inches to her previous top mark of 9' 8", set earlier this month at the John Knight Twilight. Jeidah DeZurney (Fr., Brownsville, OR/Lebanon HS) placed seventh on Friday in the women's hammer throw. Her top distance was 122' 8", just under her personal record of 122' 8.25".

Jewell Sparks (Sr., San Francisco, CA/Lick Wilmerding HS) of Willamette registered the top time of the prelims in the women's 400-meter hurdles. She easily won her heat in 1:04.54. Beckmann had the second fastest time in the prelims of the men's 400-meter dash with a personal record of 49.60 seconds.

Team Scores

George Fox topped the men's team standings with 76.5 points. Willamette was second with 51 points. Whitworth was third with 33 points, just one point in front of Pacific Lutheran in fourth with 32 points. Pacific University held fifth at 26, while Linfield College was sixth at 19.5, University of Puget Sound was seventh at 18, and Lewis & Clark College was eighth with 17 points.

The women's team standings were led by Whitworth with 72 points, while Linfield was second at 56 and George Fox was third at 44. Pacific followed in fourth place at 34.5, with Pacific Lutheran in fifth at 23, Lewis & Clark i sixth at 18, Willamette in seventh at 15.5, and Puget Sound in eighth with 10 points.